Northwoods Muskies, Fighting For The State Fish
On April 13, 2015, Pete Stoltman submitted two citizen resolutions to the Vilas County Delegation of the Wisconsin Conservation Congress during the annual spring hearings. The resolutions each pertained to musky size limits be increased to 50 inches on both Trout Lake and North and South Twin Lakes.
Stoltman argued that the ability to maintain a fishery with trophy potential has been “seriously impacted” by things like angler fishing pressure, modern techniques, habitat degradation, and sport angler and tribal harvest.
Both resolutions passed by majority vote of citizens in attendance. The rules will go before a study committee in the fall. If the committee votes to forward the resolutions, they will move forward to the Conservation Congress Executive Council and then, possibly, the statewide questionnaire the following year.
Stoltman is the president of Northwoods Muskies Inc., a regional chapter of Muskies Inc. Muskies Inc. boasts more than 6,000 members with 50 independent local chapters. The organization was founded in 1966 to promote musky fisheries and musky fishing.
The Northwoods Muskies, Inc. chapter is currently in its third year. Stoltman said the group currently has approximately 100 members and its geographic coverage extends from St. Germain in the east all the way to Park Falls in the west, from the Wisconsin/Michigan border in the north down to Tomahawk.
“The primary purpose of the club is to help improve the musky fishery in particular, and we are also very involved with other species as well,” Stoltman said.
The group also has a “social aspect,” Stoltman said, including fishing outings, and “on the water” member meetings.
The club’s main focus has been to coordinate with the Department of Natural Resources, giving input to the fisheries biologists on what they are seeing on local lakes.
“We’ve talked with them about we think that some of the lakes could use some more stocking,” Stoltman said.
Part of that included talking with local biologists about what lakes could feasibly sustain a trophy musky fishery, a discussion that led to Stoltman’s resolutions at the spring hearings.
The group also uses funds to help with research efforts conducted by the DNR like the use of passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags in muskies grown at the Art Oehmcke Hatchery in Woodruff. PIT tags are smaller than a TicTac and are implanted into muskies near the gills.
Stoltman said the PIT tags and PIT tag readers help the department determine the health of the musky fishery by collecting data that allows scientists to accurately age fish and gauge the success of the recruitment of stocked musky.
In addition to helping find the PIT tag research, the club donated money for rehabbing ponds at the Art Oehmcke Hatchery ad walleye stocking in the Shishebogama and Gunlock lakes.
Habitat is a growing concern that weighs on Stoltman’s mind. The club is hoping to coordinate efforts with other gamefish conservation groups to restore habitat that Stoltman says is essential to a healthy fishery.
“If we didn’t have the habitat problems that we have, most of these lakes would be able to have self-sustaining musky populations, and we wouldn’t really need to be talking about stocking to the levels that we are,” Stoltman said.
The group also has an eye to the future, and Stoltman said they have begun looking at potential ways to help get kids involved in fishing. “Not necessarily just musky fishing,” Stoltman said, but any fishing at all. He said fishing helps instill an ecological ethic in young people and gives them a proper understanding of sportsmanship.
Those looking to join the Northwoods Muskies Inc. can visit the chapter website at www.northwoodsmuskies.com or muskiesinc.org. Stoltman said inquiries can also be made at Rollie and Helen’s Musky Shop on U.S. Highway 51 in Minocqua.
At the end of the day, Stoltman said it’s all about getting people out fishing. As the club’s website states, “Whether it’s your first musky, your biggest musky, or not even a musky, make it a Northwoods Musky.”
